Week 8 marks the final opportunity for teams around the state in Classes A, B, C and D South to stake their claim on first-round byes, home-field advantage or merely a postseason berth.
The LTC Class D North opted for a nine-week regular season this year, but even with an extra game remaining that playoff chase doesn’t lack for drama.
That includes Friday night’s BDN Game of the Week, a battle for second place in the LTC that sends 6-1 Dexter to 6-1 Orono.
The live stream of the game, sponsored by Quirk Auto Group, may be watched at bangordailynews.com/gameoftheweek beginning with the pregame show at about 6:45 p.m. The opening kickoff set for 7.
Each team’s lone loss came to league-leading and undefeated Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, with Orono dropping a 35-25 shootout to the Huskies last week after Dexter fell to the two-time defending regional champions 36-2 in Week 6.
Dexter bounced back from its loss to MCI with a hard-fought 34-28 victory at Mount View of Thorndike last Saturday and will need to build on that momentum to subdue a high-powered Orono offense that showed off its might with 454 total yards — 283 through the air — in its loss at MCI.
Not only does this shape up as a battle for the LTC’s No. 2 seed, it may be a battle for home-field advantage if the teams meet again in the conference semifinals in two weeks.
Meanwhile, three teams are vying for first place in Class C North, with Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor, Madison-Carrabec and two-time defending state champion Winslow all entering their final regular-season games at 6-1.
All three are home this weekend. MDI faces 4-3 Old Town, Madison-Carrabec hosts 2-5 Hermon on Friday night and 0-7 Waterville visits Winslow in their cross-river rivalry on Saturday afternoon.
Each of the three league co-leaders is 1-1 against the others, so if all of them win this weekend, the tiebreaker for playoff positioning would be determined by Crabtree Points.
MDI has played the strongest schedule among the trio, followed by Madison-Carrabec and Winslow, meaning that victories by all three in all likelihood would leave MDI as the top seed for the playoffs, followed by Madison-Carrabec and Winslow.
That would give MDI and Madison-Carrabec first-round byes and Winslow facing a first-round home game.
Elsewhere on the Week 8 docket:
Hampden Academy Broncos (2-5) at Brewer Witches (6-1), 7 p.m. Friday: Brewer bounced back from its only loss of the season at unbeaten Brunswick with a hard-fought victory over Messalonskee of Oakland and now needs to knock off its closest geographic rival to secure the second and final first-round playoff bye in Class B North.
Oceanside Mariners (4-3) at Belfast Lions (3-4), 7 p.m. Friday: Oceanside quietly has put together a solid season that has coach Wes Drinkwater’s club on the brink of a first-round Class C North home game. Belfast has won three of its last four — including a key 26-21 win over Foxcroft Academy last weekend — to inject itself into a final-week battle for a postseason berth with the Mariners, FA and Old Town.
Bucksport Golden Bucks (4-3) at Mattanawcook Academy Lynx (3-4), 7 p.m. Friday at Lincoln: Three straight wins have vaulted Bucksport into the fourth and final LTC playoff spot — thanks to its tiebreaker victory over 4-3 Mount View in Week 5 — with games remaining at MA and Ellsworth-Sumner. Mattanawcook has won two in a row and could work its way back into that playoff chase with a victory over the Golden Bucks.
Thornton Academy Golden Trojans (7-0) at Bonny Eagle Scots (7-0), 7 p.m. Friday at Standish: The regular-season game of the year in Class AA sends the two-time defending state champions on the road for a battle to determine the top seed in Class A South.
